The Basque Coast

The Basque Coast was the first stop of our two-week slow-motion crawl through Northern Spain. At first, it made us wistful for California.

But slowly, we must admit, we began to feel downright disloyal. 

It was quite simply the most beautiful coast-line we've ever seen. 

(Yes, that's a church atop that tiny little island. And you can walk there. And it's not even a tourist trap.)

In fact, there are tiny churches at every turn. Here, a five-minute stroll from our little guest house in San Bartolome, is a chapel for fisherman, complete with fish statues dangling inside.

Unfortunately, there are so many churches that it would be impossible to keep them all open. (There were at least four others within walking distance!) We had to crain our necks to see inside them. "Churches in Basque country are usually closed," explained the lady at the Gernika visitors' center matter-of-factly. 

They were lovely anyway. And so was the land of the estuary (which stretches from Gernika all the way up to Mundaka, where the serious surfing begins) -- gray, full of birds, full of loveliness, with trails along the tidal zone linking the towns together. 

Or, more precisely, that sent Nick running happily through the drizzling rain. Talk about bliss. 

It was a half hour walk in the evenings to the most perfect picnic spot we could imagine.

A baguette and some cheese and olives.....and crazy sunsets.

And an hour run up the mountain trail behind our inn to find ourselves on top of the world.

It was a longer walk to the beach towns themselves, which boast uncrowded beaches and tiny islands to explore. Not to mention gorgeous pixtos (Basque country's version of tapas). Here's the Mundaka variety: 

And these gems are from Gernika. 

California adventures in pictures

While we were back in California, we got to visit a few of our favorite places. We went tide pooling in Point Lobos...

Tide pooling in Muir Beach...

To the top of Mount Tam...

And castle-building and seal-spotting on the beach with cousins...

It was wonderful to be back in the land of family, fog, and temperate weather. California, we miss you!

Cayucos and Hearst Castle

Nick's birthday present was a trip to Hearst Castle. The trip was sensational in every way - good friends, good food, an eccentric mansion to explore, and a lovely beach town to crash in every night, with a little cottage a block from the beach, a block from sensational smoked fish tacos, and (best of all) right next to a cookie store.

We drove down Highway 1 to get there, and stayed at Andrew Molera State Park, which has wonderful walk-in campsites an easy hike away, and a lovely hike from the camp sites out to a an incredibly clear lagoon....

from which you can see the ocean.

And after our stroll, we had one of the best camping dinners we've mustered so far. The secret? Frozen spaghetti that was already pretty good....

...some fresh veggies, wheat pasta, and cheese. Lots of cheese. 

And (Nick was there, after all) red pepper in abundance. 

The next day, we got back onto Highway 1 to drive to Caycucos. I don't need to say how wonderful Highway 1 is in the Big Sur area. It is wonderful, and that is all. 

Just a few miles north of San Simeon lies a beach covered in elephant seals. It's hard to imagine a more Dali-esque creature. They were singularly unattractive, but fun to watch in action (which is rare). 

Even driving manages to make us hungry, so we stopped in the tiny town of San Simeon across the street from the entrance to Hearst Castle, where Sebastian's Store serves beef sandwiches to die for made from Hearst Castle beef. This photo represents about half of Nick's sammy.

Cayucos is about 20 minutes south of San Simeon. Our inn, "The Saltbox", was gorgeous - an old, old house built in the 19th century for one of Admiral Cass's crew. The town was sleepy, but lovely, with a reasonably priced grocery store, good produce, loads of (actually) fun antique stores, and a cookie store. Did I mention the cookie store? 

This cookie store was not just any cookie store. The best way to describe it would be to say that there were free samples aplenty that tasted like this.

And the beach was unbelievable. The Cayucos Pier has pelicans in swarms, diving for fish and gulping them down. Morro Rock, a King Kong outcropping about 7 miles south in Morro Bay, lurks gorgeously at the horizon.

Each morning, beach combing was rewarded with star fish, crabs scuttling, anenomes waving eagerly after our fingers, and more sand dollars than I've ever seen intact in one place at one time. 

We saw purple starfish, lavender starfish, and orange starfish.

Nathan and Eisha liked to look at them, too. 

And finally, we trekked back up Highway 1 for Hearst Castle. I expected tackiness, not grandeur. But we got grandeur in full force. By the end of the day, I wanted a large swimming pool and a Renaissance ceiling to call my own...or at least to swim in for a little while.  

But we had to be satisfied with pictures.

The next day, we kayaked in Morro Bay, saw some sea lions, found a Robinson Crusoe Beach, and trundled home cold and a little wet.

But what a lovely place to be cold and wet in!